


If You Only Knew

by stharridan



Category: Bleach
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-31
Updated: 2012-05-31
Packaged: 2017-11-06 09:54:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/417536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stharridan/pseuds/stharridan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All Orihime can do is watch as Ichigo turns his back on her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	If You Only Knew

Inoue Orihime was a girl who brimmed with smiles and laughter – the very heart of innocence. As happy-go-lucky as she was though, nobody really knew what she went through in reality. The barrier that she had built around herself, a façade of the highest degree, was most effective in masking her actual sentiments – emotions that she fought hard to suppress.

The only person who could make her feel this way, the one with power enough to shatter her heart with just a simple gesture, was the orange-haired youth with a constant scowl plastered to his face. She had not even the vaguest idea as to how he managed to reduce her to a blushing schoolgirl confronted by the love of her life, how he was capable of sending shivers up her spine with just the slightest of glances.

In spite of what she felt for her fellow classmate, Orihime made quite a show of masking her feelings. It was easy when he smiled and laughed, for she would laugh along with him. Echoes of their merriment would be whisked away by the wind across the rooftops of Karakura, resembling gentle sounds of youngsters having a respite from the tortures of school life and peer pressure.

Those evenings after school were what Orihime looked forward to. She enjoyed them so much to the point that she would dismiss piles of homework just for the sake of spending an hour or two with him. Listening to his rambles and complaints about his fool of a father was rather entertaining, though sometimes they could get out of hand. They were always the last ones to return home, with Chad followed by Uryu who bid farewell once the sun made its last descent below the horizon. They would spend nearly half an hour more, talking about nothing in particular. Sometimes they didn't talk but merely sat there, enjoying each others' company in silence.

But that had all changed when a certain brunette came along.

To say that Orihime was slightly jealous of the girl was just an understatement. Though she appeared kind and thoughtful towards her, helping in any way she could to lighten their burden as shinigami, Orihime could feel the gap between her and him widen. With each passing fight as a shinigami, he would be one step further away from Orihime and one more step closer to _her._

But the smile that formed on his face whenever he was with her was one Orihime had never seen before. It spoke of affection that went beyond the boundaries of mere friendship. Orihime had never seen him smile at her like that, not even once. There was a certain softness in his scowl, an almost shy expression in his eyes. She wanted so much to throw her arms around him, to tell him that she was the one waiting for him all this while, but she found that she couldn't.

She didn't want that smile of happiness, of longing, to disappear from his face because of her. As much as she wanted him to be hers, she desired his own happiness as well.

And so, all Orihime could do was bite her lower lip and watch, for the umpteenth time, as Ichigo turned his back on her and walked away with Rukia by his side. The ache in her chest was one she had grown accustomed to, and a pained smile tugged at the corners of her lips as Ichigo threw his head back, emitting a laugh that made her heart leap with joy as well as shattered it into countless pieces.


End file.
